Last of Tsunami Monuments To Be Destroyed

One of the last buildings to survive the March 2011 tsunami, and which became a memorial to the tens of thousands of people who perished in the disaster, will soon be no longer.

George Nishiyama/The Wall Street Journal

The Disaster Control Center in Minamisanriku on August 6.

The remains of the town of Minamisanriku‘s Disaster Control Center, which became both a symbol of fortitude and a painful reminder of the disaster, will be brought down by the end of the year, the town’s mayor said Thursday.

The decision, which comes two and a half years after a magnitude-9.0 earthquake unleashed the tsunami that devastated Japan’s northeastern coast, wasn’t easy one, as JRT has noted.

The waves claimed nearly 800 of the town’s residents, about 40 of them at the disaster center. Among them was a recently wed official who fell as she instructed residents to seek higher ground, even as the waves engulfed the building.
Her family had asked that the building be destroyed, as it conjured painful memories of the the death of their loved one.

But others said it needed to remain as a reminder of the power of nature and a lesson to future generations.

While the town assembly repeatedly demanded that the buidling be torn down, Mayor Jin Sato put off making a decision in light of the differing opinions of residents.

But on Thursday, Mr. Sato told a news conference he could no longer let the building stay as it was. He said it posed a danger in the event of another earthquake, and the town didn’t have the money to support it without help from the central government.

Shun Ito, a hotel employee who gives guests tours of the town — and with whom JRT spoke on a visit in August — had mixed feelings about the building’s removal.
“Once it’s gone, there’s no putting it back, even if we wanted to,” he said. “It will be sad if people stop coming to Minamisanriku because it’s gone.”

But he added: “What’s important is not whether it remains or not, but how we pass on to future generations the lessons of the disaster and prevent the loss of lives.”

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